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Alexander Corvinus
Alexander Corvinus is a Hungarian nobleman and warlord who came to power during the early 5th century AD. He is the patriarch of the Corvinus Clan, and the eldest and presumably the most powerful of the Immortals. He is portrayed in the ''Underworld'' series by Derek Jacobi. Biography Alexander was a Hungarian nobleman and warlord who had ascended to power in the early seasons of the 5th century, just in time to watch his home village ravaged by a plague. Alexander was the only survivor: the bearer of a rare genetic mutation, his body was able to adapt the virus in an immune response, causing him to become the first of the Immortals. Years later, Alexander married a woman named Helena and together they had three sons, two of whom inherited their father's immortality in its active state, and were thus born immortal. Their third son inherited his father's immortality in its recessive state, and was thus born mortal. At some point, Helena passed away"Corvinus turned to look at the elegant face of the massive carving behind him. The Muse's divine countenance was modeled on that of Helena, his long-dead wife and the mother of his children. He was grateful that she did not live to see the monsters their sons had become." ~ Evolution novelization, chapter 19. At some later point, one of Alexander's Immortal sons, William, was bitten by a rabid mountain wolf as the twin brothers were out riding one night. After a long, slow, excruciating metamorphosis, William became the very first Werewolf: a raging, uncontrollable bipedal monster wolf, whose bite passed on his highly aggressive and infectious Lycanthropy virus, making Werewolves of all of his victims. Following this, Alexander attempted to restrain William to contain the outbreak of Werewolves, but was unsuccessful. Alexander's second Immortal son, Marcus, was later bitten by a bat, becoming the first Vampire. Seeking to eliminate the threat posed by his twin brother's offspring and bring William back to his side, Marcus sought out a dying warlord named Viktor and made a bargain with him; immortality in exchange for Viktor's military genius. During this time, Alexander established a military force of his own, in his own attempt to quell William's plague. While the Vampire Elders waged their campaign to capture and contain William, Alexander chose instead to focus on keeping the war contained from spilling into the mortal realm. Disdaining direct involvement in the conflict himself, his organization of human warriors were dispatched to clean up any Vampire or Werewolf/Lycan bodies left behind after the battles, in order to conceal their existence from the normal human population. When William was captured by the Vampires in 1202 AD and locked away by Viktor, Marcus partially blamed Alexander, reasoning that his father had done nothing to help save William. ''Underworld: Evolution By the early 21st century, Alexander is operating under the alias of Lorenz Macaro, and runs his operation from his ship, the Sancta Helena. He meets with Selene and Michael Corvin, a Vampire and Hybrid who are being hunted by Marcus, who beg his help to destroy his sons. He reveals that no matter what his children have become, he cannot help to destroy them. Alexander has come into possession of Viktor's body, as well as Viktor's half of the prison key that holds William. He is visited by Marcus who confronts him about his rejection of his Immortal sons, and demands to know where Viktor's key is hidden. Enraged by his father's refusal to aid him, Marcus impales Alexander with his wing talon and then a sword, then takes Viktor's half of the key and leaves him for dead. As Alexander lies wounded on the floor, he calls Selene to him to drink some of his pure Immortal blood. The blood, he tells her, will make her "the future" and is her only hope of being strong enough to destroy the Corvinus brothers. After Selene and Michael leave, Alexander detonates a case of explosives on his ship, obliterating it in the harbor. Alexander's blood turns Selene into a Vampire-Corvinus Strain Hybrid and amongst other things, increases her existing abilities to greater heights and gives her an immunity to sunlight. With her new abilities, Selene is able to kill Marcus while Michael kills William. Legacy Because of Alexander's death and the slaughter of the Cleaners, humans soon discover the existence of the Immortals, leading to the near extinction of both the Vampire and Lycan races. During ''Underworld: Awakening, Detective Sebastian questions Selene on the immunity to sunlight she possesses as a result of drinking Alexander's blood. Selene tells him that it was a gift from Alexander Corvinus who Detective Sebastian recognizes as "the Founding Father." Personality Alexander was a tired, and world weary old man. He was shown to be kind towards Michael and his Cleaners, but he seems outwardly cold to his Immortal sons and Selene, who he holds in low esteem due to her centuries as a Vampire warrior taking part in racial genocide against the Lycans. He exhibits an admirable dedication to hiding the existence of Immortals from humans, believing that the world belongs to mankind, not the Immortals. Alexander shows some paternal feelings towards William and Marcus, due to his reluctance to kill his own sons, despite that they had become monsters. Powers and Abilities It is implied by Selene that Alexander could have stopped Marcus because he was "the oldest and most powerful", but Alexander instead allowed his son to wound him, saying that no matter how monstrous the pair had become they were still his sons. This situation therefore would lead viewers to believe that despite his aged appearance, Alexander is likely physically stronger than any of his descendants and quite capable of dispatching lesser Immortals with ease. It appears that Alexander chose to die, as he made no effort to heal his wound, most likely recognising that his sons would now have to be killed and not wanting to take that responsibility onto himself. As a result of his great age, Alexander possesses extraordinary mental strength and discipline, being able to listen to multiple news broadcasts at once, and being able to differentiate between all of them, and understand them regardless of language. Trivia * Corvin or Corvinus is a name assigned by Romanians to those who became warlords, nobles or even a king of Hungary. The first Corvin was [[Wikipedia:John_Hunyadi|John Hunyadi (Ioannes Corvinus)]], Voivode of Transylvania, Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary, who married a Hungarian countess. * Alexander's name in Hungarian is "Corvin Sándor". * Alexander is multilingual. * In the ''Underworld'' graphic novel, Alexander is mistakenly identified as being of 12th century birth, rather than of the 4th–5th century. * According to the prologue in the novelization of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Alexander's domain was a Duchy and he was known as the "Duke of Corvinus""None was spared save Alexander, Duke of Corvinus." ~ Prologue, Rise of the Lycans novelization. * In the early fifth century, the Hungarian people lived near the south end of the Ural Mountains. It is likely that Alexander Corvinus was born in or near modern-day Kazakhstan. See the [[Map|map of Underworld locations]]. * It is unknown what would happen to Alexander if he was bitten by a vampire or a lycan. While Marcus and William were also immortals and yet became a vampire and a werewolf respectively, Alexander is the first immortal. So it is impossible to guess if he would ahve becoem a new kind of hybrid. Quotes Gallery listening to the Cleaners.jpg|Alexander ponders recent events in the Immortal clans. Alexander with Samuel.jpg|Alexander with Samuel, the leader of the Cleaners. Alexander.JPG|Alexander examines Viktor's corpse. MV5BMTI1MjgxNjc3N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNjMzMzc2_V1_SX485_SY325_.jpg|Alexander on the Sancta Helena. Alexselene.jpg|Alexander speaking with Selene. Selene, Alexander Corvinus & Michael.JPG|Alexander speaks with Selene and Michael. Alexander sees Marcus.JPG|Alexander looks with disdain upon Marcus. Alexander being confronted by Marcus.jpg|Alexander is confronted by Marcus. seconds before the explosion.jpg|Alexander, seconds before his death. References es:Alexander Corvinus fr:Alexander Corvinus ru:Александр Корвинус pl:Alexander Corvinus pt-br:Alexander Corvinus Category:Characters Category:Evolution characters Category:Male characters Category:Deceased